The 6th annual Tirana International Film Festival (TIFF) is honored to announce the first special program set to kick the festival off on December 1, 2008.

TIFF is most pleased to welcome to the Albanian capital American indie legend, Alexandre Rockwell together with his long-time collaborator, the screenwriter Brandon Cole. Rockwell, who first made his reputation with his Sundance-winning 'In The Soup' will be screening his last film '13 Moons' along with co-writer Brandon Cole.

Cole will take part in this special screening and Q and A along with Rockwell and will then present John Tuturro's 'Illuminata' which Cole wrote the screenplay for. Both Alexandre Rockwell and Brandon Cole will also be present for a special afternoon press conference to announce their upcoming US-Albanian co-production along withthe SKA-NDAL Film Company who is set to produce the project.

TIFF is also pleased to welcome this years international programmer, filmmaker Thomas Logoreci, who produced the 2006 TIFF entry 'I Am A Sex Addict' as well as last years special screening short, 'A Day's Work' which he wrote. Apart from selecting all the short works in each of the international categories, Logoreci is also presenting a program of selected foreign features from the vault of the Albanian State Film Archive (AQSHF).

13 MOONS (2002) USA

In Person: Writer/Director Alexandre Rockwell and Writer Brandon Cole

D/R Alexandre Rockwell

Steve Buscemi (Resevoir Dogs) is Bananas, a depressed TV clown having one very bad Los Angeles night. After a fight between his ex-wife and girlfriend, Buscemi seeks the aid of a bored bail bondsmen (David Proval) and his own TV sidekick (Peter Dinklage) as we walks the streets in Alexandre Rockwell's absurdly comic tale. Shot on mini-dv and featuring many cameos from Rockwell regulars, '13 Moons' is another brilliant collaboration between Buscemi and Rockwell who started their careers with the Sundance-winning indie classic 'In the Soup'.

Actor/Director John Tuturro's brilliant and witty homage to early 20th century theatre was sadly neglected at the time of its release a decade ago. Turturro is Tucco, a New York playwright trying to get his new masterwork on stage in the face of an underhanded theater owner (Beverly D'Angelo) and an hysterically abusive critic (Christopher Walken). Turturro's second feature is an astonishing creation of set design and cinematography foregrounded by Brandon Coles frentic wordplay. Andrew O' Hehir waxed in Salon.com, 'At its core, it's a heartbreakingly beautiful tragicomedy about art, love and artifice, with a script of rare humor and complexity and some of the most enjoyable performances in years.'

Despite the rigid Marxist isolation of dictator Enver Hoxha, many foreign (and some Western) films were seen by Albanian audiences during the nearly half-century of communist rule. Imported to serve as propaganda to the masses, many of these cinema classics were then tucked way into the vaults were they have remained unseen for half a century. The Tirana International Film Festival (TIFF) in cooperation with the Albanian State Film Archive (AQSHF) are pleased to present prints of these treasures some not available on DVD.

The legendary English comic Peter Sellers directed and starred in this adaptation of a Marcel Pagnol play about a mild-mannered French schoolteacher who takes honesty to an unbelievable level. After becoming an international superstar in the 1960's, the notoriously eccentric Sellers ordered all copies of the film destroyed - an instruction ignored by Albania. Critics and fans of Sellers work have been unable to see 'Mr Topaze' ever which barely received a US release in 1962.

A racist outsider (William Shatner) enters a small America town intent on further dividing black from white as integration sweeps through the US south. Low-budget director Roger Corman, the producer who discovered Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron and Peter Bogdonovich among others, shot the film on location in Missouri. Under constant threat of death during production, 'The Intruder' is Corman's masterpiece - a sharp, tight, unflinching vision of racism in the United States. 'The Intruder also features an astonishing performance by TV actor Shatner as well as very believable acting turns by many local non-professionals making their screen debuts. An unforgettable, highly-charged drama that only recently was released on DVD.

'Sammy Going South' is cinematic craftsman Alex Mackendrick's ('Sweet Smell of Success') seldom-seen epic of a young boys journey across the African continent after the death of his parents. Remembering his long-lost aunt lives in South Africa, he sets out from Egypt with only a toy compass and the friendship of a diamond-dealing big game hunter played by tough guy Edward G. Robinson. Mackendrick labored for five years to bring this film to the big screen and met many production obstacles including several crew members bit by snakes and the near-fatal heart attack of Robinson. Cut by distributors upon release, the film has developed a cult following and was eventually restored to its original length.